ONE DAY THE NIGHT
SYNOPSIS
Sainey is a twenty-year-old Gambian who knows the harsh reality of his destiny: because of an irreversible illness, he risks becoming totally blind.
After reaching Italy and discovering that even here no cure exists, he is determined to learn as much as possible to prepare for blindness.
On this journey to darkness, Sainey meets a new friend and discovers the passion for a new sport, the baseball. So he decides to film his story in first person and to show the world that it is necessary to react to the greatest difficulties.
DIRECTORS’ VISION
The film has two points of view: a subjective one, which is filmed by Sainey the protagonist and co-author of this story; and an observational one, filmed by us as directors. The relationship between autobiography and biography is one of the main themes of the film and has a central role in the story.
Sainey’s self-narration is the result of a fieldwork research that has gone on for some years. It makes use of the Participatory Video, a technique that offers to all people – beginners included – the opportunity to express their point of view through audiovisual production.
The origin of the film, in fact, took place in a Participatory Video workshop that Sainey attended in 2018. At the end of that workshop we proposed to Sainey to make a film about his life. From there, the gaze of self-narration continued with the film development, becoming the main point around which the story rotates.
On the other hand, we chose to tell Sainey’s story by being very close to him, so that we can better connect to his inner world.
Starting from this binomial self-representation / representation, the theme of the double has developed on different levels: internal / external; disability / normality; impossibility / possibility; dream / reality.
Given this strong size of double, it seemed almost natural to focus our gaze on one of the closest ties that Sainey has. So, when we realized that Pasquale was sort of a guide to him, we also thought telling their relationship would be valuable.
Finally, at the photographic level, we chose the 4:3 format. This format refers to the visual conditions of Sainey and had an impact first on ourselves, because we gave up a portion of framing. Second, it wants to be a limitation for the audience, forced to experience a more limited vision in comparison to the large formats to which in recent years we have become accustomed to.
We hope that, despite the drama inherent in the story, the film can transmit and encourage a different visual perception to get closer to the witnesses in the film.
Michele Aiello, Michele Cattani
SAINEY FATTY’S VISION
My name is Sainey Fatty, I live in Bologna and I am the protagonist of the film: “One day the night”. I am 23 years old and I am from Gambia, West Africa. I have been in Italy for six years now. My first meeting with the cinema took place during my stay at the refugee shelter run by the cooperative Arca di Noè.
Everything started with a participatory video project organized by the cooperative itself. I took part with some friends and companions who at the time also lived within the SPRAR project.
What had started as a small film-making project ended up becoming a whole film. The short film I made inside the workshop surprised the organizers who proposed to produce a documentary film based on what was manifest and not in the short film, in a deeper way. I loved the idea of making a film: it meant a lot to me being able to publicly share the story of my life and my experiences.
What was even more important to me was the opportunity to make people know a rare and little known blindness. At the same time I could expose a whole new world to people with a similar disability: a world of sport, art, education and much more.
The visual disability in question is called Retinitis Pigmentosa. It is a slow, progressive and bilateral degeneration of retina and retinal pigmented epithelium causing vision loss. As the pathology progresses, the photoreceptors are reduced and patients suffer a reduction of the visual field that creates a tunnel vision, an increased sensitivity to light, a blurred field of view and a night blindness. Finally, blindness and functional disability occur.
I have lived with Retinitis Pigmentosa all my life. Making this film has helped me a lot to explore, to learn, to teach and to share many aspects of this disability, both good and bad things. It will remain for me as a souvenir, a legacy for the future.
Sainey Fatty
Download Pressbook ONE DAY THE NIGHT
Country: Italy
Duration: 68 min
Credits
| With | Sainey Fatty, Pasquale Di Flaviano, Giada Catini | |
| Directors | Michele Aiello, Michele Cattani | |
| Editor | Corrado Iuvara | |
| Photography | Luca Gennari, Salvatore Lucchese, Matteo Calore and Michele Aiello | |
| Original Music | Sergio Marchesini | |
| Live Sound Recording | Alberto Fontana | |
| Post-production Sound | Alberto Cagol Riccardo e Rossi Marco Zambrano | |
| Colorist | Corrado Iuvara | |
| Coordination of Production | Giulia Campagna | |
| Administration | Elena Pinton | |
| Communication | Chiara Tringali, Nicoletta Cartocci | |
| Distribution | Maud Corino | |
| Production | Zalab Film Srl | |
| With the contribution by | Regione Veneto – Por Fesr Veneto 2014-2020 | |
| With the support by | Regione Emilia Romagna | |
| In collaboration with | Arca Di Noè Cooperativa Sociale SAI – Sistema di Accoglienza e Integrazione |
|
| Producer | Stefano Collizzolli | |
| Artistic producer | Andrea Segre | |
| Executive producer | Michele Aiello | |
| Audio-description with the voice of | Andrea Pennacchi |
